The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shortlisted Books for 2021 has been announced. Follow the links to those I have already reviewed or interviewed the author or illustrator on the blog. I will add to this list until the winners are announced in August. Congratulations to those creators who have been shortlisted. Sincere commiserations […]
Read More Inside the 2021 CBCA Shortlist BooksGraeme Base is one of Australia and the world’s foremost picture book creators, renowned for Animalia and The Waterhole, amongst other treasures. His new book, The Tree (Puffin Books) is a fable. It begins timelessly, “This is the story of …” The tale is perfectly formed and elegantly illustrated to show the tree as a […]
Read More The Tree by Graeme BaseThe Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Books for 2021 have been announced. Follow the links to those books I have already reviewed or interviewed the author or illustrator about on the blog. I will add to this list until the winners are announced in August. Congratulations to those creators who have been longlisted. […]
Read More Inside the 2021 CBCA Notable BooksPicture Books from Magabala Books The ‘Our Place’ picture book series is a set of beautifully written and illustrated books that share and explain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to young children. Two of the four books have now been published. Respect by Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy “Our […]
Read More Our Place: Respect & FamilyWhere Snow Angels Go by Maggie O’Farrell, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini Where Snow Angels Go is a sumptuous Christmas gift book by Maggie O’Farrell, Edinburgh-based author of the acclaimed novel for adults, Hamnet, a tale of William Shakespeare’s son. Where Snow Angels Go is an illustrated work in picture book form. It is an […]
Read More Where Snow Angels Go by Maggie O’FarrellReviews of Natural History Picture Books from Walker Books Australia Kookaburra by Claire Saxby, illustrated by Tannya Harricks Inside the CBCA Shortlist Dry to Dry: The Seasons of Kakadu by Pamela Freeman, illustrated by Liz Anelli Two new outstanding picture books in Walker Books (Australia) Nature Storybooks series are Kookaburra and Dry to Dry. Like […]
Read More Nature StorybooksBook Review Much of Maxine Beneba Clarke’s writing is poetic, and often throws unforgettable diamond-honed punches. I have read and valued a number of her books, beginning with her short fiction Foreign Soil, in which the first story refers to a bike that evokes searing memories as well as a mention of patchwork bikes. Her […]
Read More When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba ClarkeBook Review My lingering recollections of The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey (Text Publishing) are of place and the nature of the labyrinth. Erica finds a fibro shack on the sandy, salty, windswept coastline in the hamlet of Garra Nulla. It is a shambled labyrinth but its core is perfectly proportioned. Erica buys the house. “I […]
Read More The Labyrinth by Amanda LohreyBy Bryan Stevenson Book Review Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (Scribe Publishing) is also a movie starring Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillan, the man Bryan tries to save from death row. Based on the powerful true story of young Harvard-educated African American […]
Read More Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and RedemptionInside the CBCA Shortlist Wilam: A Birrarung Story is shortlisted for the 2020 CBCA Eve Pownall Award. In this review, I will focus on the illustrations by Lisa Kennedy. The illustrations in Wilam: A Birrarung Story (written by Aunty Joy Murphy & Andrew Kelly, published by Black Dog Books, Walker Books Australia) are by emerging […]
Read More Lisa Kennedy’s Artwork in Wilam: A Birrarung Story
